The
Ramakrishna - Vivekananda Center, 17 East 94th Street, New York, NY, is a
branch of the Ramakrishna Order of India. Incorporated in 1933 as a
non-profit religious organization under the laws of New York State, it
maintains a temple in Manhattan (New York, NY) and a
summer cottage at
Thousand Island Park, New York where Swami Vivekananda lived and taught in
1895. The Center is self-sustaining and looks to the
Ramakrishna Order for
spiritual inspiration. Its Minister, or Swami, is a monk of the Ramakrishna
Order. The Center bases its teachings on the
System of Vedanta,
which combines both the religion and philosophy of the Hindus, especially as
taught by Sri Ramakrishna
(1836-1886), his wife and spiritual companion Holy Mother
Sri Sarada Devi (1853-1920)
and his disciple Swami
Vivekananda (1863-1902). Vedanta teaches that every soul is potentially
divine, and that its divinity may be manifested through worship (Bhakti-Yoga),
contemplation (Raja-Yoga), unselfish work (Karma-Yoga), and philosophical
discrimination (Jnana-Yoga). According to Vedanta, Truth is universal and
all humankind and all existence are one. Vedanta preaches the unity of the
Godhead, or ultimate Reality, and accepts every faith as a valid means for
its own followers to realize the Truth.

The
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center seeks to stimulate the growth of the
individual's innate spirituality through lectures, discourses, publications,
and individual guidance according to the universal principles of Yoga and
Vedanta. The disciplines the Center provides are suited to individual needs
and temperaments. It does not deal with the occult or sensational and offers
no easy shortcuts.

Contact Information

You can learn more about the
activities of the Center by clicking here. Further inquiries
regarding the Center can be made by telephone between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. EST Monday
through Saturday.